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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
Since its founding, the United States has had to balance the American creed of equality for all, on one hand, with racial inequality, on the other hand. Is this challenge something exclusive to the United States? This course will provide students the opportunity to compare and contrast how race and ethnicity are constructed across the globe as well as how race and politics interact in various countries. We will examine the phenomena of race and ethnicity in the political development of several countries including the U.S., South Africa, France, Australia and Brazil. We will ask: What is the difference between race and ethnicity? What role do countries and their institutions play in developing racial ideologies and racial hierarchies? Is there such thing as a racial democracy? Is there a difference between the U.S's "race problem," Latin America's "shade problem" and Europe's "immigrant problem"? By the end of the class, students will have a broad knowledge of the similarities and differences of racial and ethnic issues across the globe.
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3.00 Credits
This course deals with what democracy means and how it is achieved. It begins by weighing competing definitions of democracy focusing on two kinds of questions. Is "democracy" a procedure or a substance and what is the relationship between democratic government and market economies? After addressing general theoretical issues, the course will consider what is meant by democracy in the United States, Latin America, South Africa, and the Arab world.
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3.00 Credits
While the First World War had a highly equivocal outcome which most Americans found unsatisfactory and failed to lead to a lasting peace, the Second World War ended in triumph and shaped the world for the rest of the twentieth century. This course will compare the leadership of two American Presidents in the two world wars. Areas of particular focus will include their initial response to these two conflicts and the development of their stance toward them; the definition of their war aims; the foundation and maintenance of their alliances; the military planning and conduct of the wars upon domestic politics; and their attempts to secure peace settlements that reflected their objectives. This course will combine secondary readings with some work in primary sources to allow students to become familiar with the atmosphere of these two periods.
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3.00 Credits
Are human beings the only beings who belong in politics? And is political involvement a unique or defining aspect of what it means to be human? Such questions are increasingly complex as the boundaries of "the human" become blurred by the rise of artificial intelligence, robotics, and brain implants: shifting attitudes towards both animal and human bodies; and the automation of economic and military decisions (buy! sell! attack! retreat!) that used to be the prerogative of human actors. How do visions of politics without humans and humans without politics impact our thinking about longstanding questions of freedom, power, and right? Can and should the link between humans and politics survive in an age in which "posthuman" or "transhumant" entities become central characters in the drama of politics? This class will consider these questions through readings, films and artifacts that bring political theory into conversation with science fiction, popular literature on the so-called "singularity" (the merger of humans with computers), science and technology studies, evolutionary anthropology, "new materialist" philosophy, and feminist theory.
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3.00 Credits
Since consumers were first introduced to the promise of "better living through chemistry," society has had to wrestle with the impacts, often far removed in place and time, resulting from a rapid proliferation of hazardous chemicals and wastes. Policy responses, be they at the local, national or global scale, are often limited to reactionary efforts to counter releases into the environment, are constrained by the prevalent use of the technologies in question, and further bring to the fore key challenges of environmental justice and risk management. How then are we to regulate DDT without adversely affecting our fight against mosquito-borne malaria? How might we preserve the ozone layer while still maintaining the benefits of food preservation through refrigeration? How can we reap the benefits of the electronic age without condoning the steady flow of electronic waste affecting workers' health and environments in developing countries? Emphasis will be placed on both understanding the politics that bring about, and allow us to address, these problems. We will be examining in particular novel policy responses, including Europe's precautionary safe-use law, citizen-science initiatives and consumer-driven certification schemes.
Prerequisite:
ENVI 101 or permission of instructor
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3.00 Credits
The American Revolution produced a galaxy of brilliant politicians and statesmen of extraordinary courage, intellect, creativity, and character. They succeeded in drafting an unparalleled Constitution and establishing enduring democratic political institutions while nevertheless failing to grapple with the wrenching issue of slavery and the rights of women. In this course, we will explore the lives, ideas, and political leadership of these men, most of whom belonged to the social elite of their day: Washington, Madison, Jefferson, Adams,and Hamilton. We will study in depth their superb writings, such as the correspondence between Madison and Jefferson and between Adams and Jefferson, and Madison's and Hamilton's Federalist essays. We will also read recent interpretations of the founding generation by Gordon Wood, Joseph Ellis, Bernard Bailyn, and others.
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3.00 Credits
Neoliberalism is, in essence, the belief that unencumbered market mechanisms will maximize prosperity and happiness. Over the past thirty years this idea has come to shape the global economy, the ways governments function, and how individuals understand themselves and their relations with other people in their lives. However, political movements around the world have challenged these principles -- pointing to growing wealth inequality, environmental destruction, and negative cultural changes that have followed the implementation of neoliberal policies. This interdisciplinary course will provide students with a detailed understanding of the concept and these ongoing debates. We will begin by tracing the rise of neoliberal thinking in the fields of economics and public policy. We will then explore its impact on American society, relying on sociological accounts of changes in welfare provision and education, as well as analyses of the political implications of reality television shows. Anthropological studies will help us assess neoliberalism's effects on the Global South. The course will conclude by looking at political movements resisting neoliberalism and asking whether the current economic crisis marks the end of this policy agenda and mode of governance.
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3.00 Credits
Ronald Reagan's pronouncement in 1981 that "government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem" has defined American politics for nearly three decades. Skepticism of government has deep roots and strong resonance throughout American political history, yet in many ways the American state has grown steadily larger and stronger. This course explores this conundrum by examining the American state, and its growth, in various arenas. We will assess traditional theories about the weak American state in light of arguments about the state as: regulator of family and "private" life, adjudicator of relations between racial and ethnic groups, manager of economic inequalities, insurer of security, and arbiter of the acceptable uses of violence and surveillance.
Prerequisite:
At least one class in American politics
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3.00 Credits
We rely on environmental laws to make human communities healthier and to protect the natural world, while allowing for sustainable economic growth. Yet, despite 40 years of increasingly varied and complex legislation, balancing human needs and environmental quality has never been harder than it is today. Environmental Studies 307 analyzes the transformation of environmental law from fringe enterprise to fundamental feature of modern political, economic and social life. ENVI 307 also addresses the role of community activism in environmental law, from local battles over proposed industrial facilities to national campaigns for improved corporate citizenship. By the completion of the semester, students will understand both the successes and failures of modern environmental law and how these laws are being reinvented, through innovations like pollution credit trading and "green product" certification, to confront globalization, climate change and other emerging threats.
Prerequisite:
Environmental Studies 101 or permission of instructor
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3.00 Credits
This seminar utilizes the interdisciplinary background of the other Williams-Mystic courses to examine national and international contemporary issues in our relationship with ocean and coastal resources. This seminar takes a topical approach to the study of marine law and policy, examining fisheries, harbor development, coastal zone management, admiralty law, law of the sea, marine pollution, and shipping.
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